I'm curious about this, because it was mentioned off handedly a couple of years ago. So I'm guessing there might have been some progress on it. Any news?
Hunter or Avery; what's the word on the Traveller MMORPG?
- Thread starter Blue Ghost
- Start date
Well, nevermind then.
Major B
SOC-14 1K
Seems to me that any MMORPG would be doomed to disappoint many players since there are such widespread mods and strong opinions on the various eras of the OTU.
I'd hate to be the developer trying to find the best route to keep old fans involved and attract new players. Not just a tightrope but a skinny one at that. But hard isn't the same as impossible. Personally, the Traveller name on a MMORPG would be enough to get me to try it once and if it was good, I'd probably stick around.
Hunter, do you think it worthwhile to make this thread a sticky and solicit input into what ought to go into any MMORPG? Which ruleset, timeframe, sector, and so forth along with ideas on races, classes, and the rest...
I'm sure there are as many opinions as there are members and maybe one of us has an idea that will provide a spur to development.
I'd hate to be the developer trying to find the best route to keep old fans involved and attract new players. Not just a tightrope but a skinny one at that. But hard isn't the same as impossible. Personally, the Traveller name on a MMORPG would be enough to get me to try it once and if it was good, I'd probably stick around.
Hunter, do you think it worthwhile to make this thread a sticky and solicit input into what ought to go into any MMORPG? Which ruleset, timeframe, sector, and so forth along with ideas on races, classes, and the rest...
I'm sure there are as many opinions as there are members and maybe one of us has an idea that will provide a spur to development.
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hunter
Ancient - Absent Friend
Honestly not really unless someone with a few million bucks to blow on development steps forward anytime soon.
I think it could be done and I think might do well. Eve is really the only SF based MMO around right now with any real following, and IMO it sucks. I ignore the drek that is Star Wars Galaxies...
The key would be getting the subscription base up over the 100k mark. At that point and a few years and you could recoup the development and operational costs.
Major B
SOC-14 1K
I can give you five bucks now but the rest of the millions will have to wait until next payday.
Disappointing but I guess understandable. I'd think the OTU would provide much more rich stories than other, less well thought-out universes would - but unless that can be translated into paying customers I guess I'd be reluctant to make that leap too.
But if this lottery ticket pays off, I'll give it some thought.
Disappointing but I guess understandable. I'd think the OTU would provide much more rich stories than other, less well thought-out universes would - but unless that can be translated into paying customers I guess I'd be reluctant to make that leap too.
But if this lottery ticket pays off, I'll give it some thought.
Same here with my lottery ticket. That and buy out the DGP rights.
Interesting. Are there even 100,000 English speaking Traveller players/fans? I had one experience with an MMORPG, and it wasn't very good, but I've got a couple of online friends who still do them. I figured this might be something they'd be interested in.
I was just curious. Thanks.
hunter
Ancient - Absent Friend
At it's peak, yes it had those numbers of fans. My best guess would be in the low-mid 10s of thousands, with about 10,000 or so what I would non-closet fans that are still very active.
That said, if a Traveller MMO could get off the ground I think you could count on a lot of those old fans who no longer play to consider checking it out, and I think the market in general is looking for a good (WoW/CoH level) science fiction MMO. I think Traveller would do well for such an MMO with a few changes in 'canon' to deal with things like Jump drives taking a week, etc.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Well I just got an email, two actually, from the British National Lottery and I won a share of this years jackpot! My 1/13 share comes to £850,000 so I'm stinking filthy rich 
I'll buy all the rights to Traveller at a very generous price and build the MMORPG with the leftovers... Just as soon as I send them all my financial information so they can collect my prize processing fees and transfer the money to my account.
Yeah, right :smirk:
Gee it's been ages since I got one of these scams, I was starting to think I'd disappeared from the scammer's lists.
I'll buy all the rights to Traveller at a very generous price and build the MMORPG with the leftovers... Just as soon as I send them all my financial information so they can collect my prize processing fees and transfer the money to my account.
Yeah, right :smirk:
Gee it's been ages since I got one of these scams, I was starting to think I'd disappeared from the scammer's lists.
Interesting. PM coming to you, Hunter.
Oops, no PMs for Hunter then.
Oops, no PMs for Hunter then.
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There is a market for SFMMO out there, however as budget goes, they cost millions to develop. If a Traveller MMO will sell will depend more on innovation and how good it is for the online gaming community rather than how a Traveller grognard will think and feel about it.
However, Traveller as a game is probably viortually unknown to most online gamers, thus there will be some leeway in things like canon, mechanics and character classes as this won't be as important for them than it will be for most of the members of this board, including me.
However, Traveller as a game is probably viortually unknown to most online gamers, thus there will be some leeway in things like canon, mechanics and character classes as this won't be as important for them than it will be for most of the members of this board, including me.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
I agree. It would probably have to be so different they wouldn't bother to call it Traveller.
Traveller players might enjoy it though.
Whatever MMORPG is.
I'll go back to my cave now and polish my flint axe. :smirk:
Traveller players might enjoy it though.
Whatever MMORPG is.
I'll go back to my cave now and polish my flint axe. :smirk:
Oh, it could be called Traveller. Familiar ships, vehicles and alien races should appear. However setting-wise it should probably be a bit different from OTU. maybe put it into a sector that has not been covered properly in any previous Traveller material.
The real hard decision would be on other aspects to make the game stand out from other MMORPG. Just the name Traveller it self won't attract many gamers. Game mechanics, setting and content are.
The real hard decision would be on other aspects to make the game stand out from other MMORPG. Just the name Traveller it self won't attract many gamers. Game mechanics, setting and content are.
I think the folks who developed the DOOM and Quake series, as well as the developers of Half Life and a number of other FPS games that came out in the 90s were probably big Traveller fans. You just need to look at the weapons they give you in those games, and one clearly sees a Traveller (or Traveller-like) influence.
Even so, you're right, most people don't know the source of those developers' inspiration. If anything they'd probably call it a knock-off of DOOM/Quake2/whatever ... and so forth.
MMORPGs are something I really don't indulge in. I used to do an awful lot of Joint Operations online, and still do some Counter Strike, but I tend to shun MMORPGs. Still, I thought a Traveller version might be a good time killer.
FYI; I was going to attempt a Traveller mod for CSS or Half Life Source, but I'm neither a mapper nor a modeler, much less a skinner, and so tabled the idea. That, and the Source engine is fairly limited in what Traveller really needs. So, if there's an FPS modder out there reading these boards, maybe you could take the idea and run with it.
Even so, you're right, most people don't know the source of those developers' inspiration. If anything they'd probably call it a knock-off of DOOM/Quake2/whatever ... and so forth.
MMORPGs are something I really don't indulge in. I used to do an awful lot of Joint Operations online, and still do some Counter Strike, but I tend to shun MMORPGs. Still, I thought a Traveller version might be a good time killer.
FYI; I was going to attempt a Traveller mod for CSS or Half Life Source, but I'm neither a mapper nor a modeler, much less a skinner, and so tabled the idea. That, and the Source engine is fairly limited in what Traveller really needs. So, if there's an FPS modder out there reading these boards, maybe you could take the idea and run with it.
Blue Ghost, I also had ideas for a Traveller Mod under the soruce engine, but found that my skills still are too limited. However I feel that I have a few good ideas that could be useable, but I am not able to develop them myself.
That said, I feel that fps version of Traveller will be short lived unless it can bring something really unique other than point and shot.
That said, I feel that fps version of Traveller will be short lived unless it can bring something really unique other than point and shot.
Zparkz; me too. I was going to try to make a Defuse and Hostage map for Traveller using Source. I thought the idea I had was solid enough; setting; Starport/Spaceport, Counter Terrorists (SWAT/Special Forces, Mercenary/private security) would spawn at either a patrol ship or security office, while Terrorists would spawn at either a battered Scout ship, or somewhere near a baggage or freight area: Bomb would have to placed in the main Starport corridor, or hostages would be held on board the Scout ship.
That's one map. The kind of areas I was thinking of would be pretty large; landing pads, ship models, as well as terminals and gangways. Something much larger and more detailed than the 747 map for CSS (and much brighter). I have a rough sketch, but my machine doesn't have the horses to effectively edit Source (only half a gig of RAM).
I could probably crank out a very basic map, and maybe a model or two (I'm a trained CAD operator), but it wouldn't be very good. Still... I may give it a shot.
I have other ideas, but that's the starting one. But like I said, the Source engine is limited in what it can deliver. It sacrifices game space for detailed textures and enhanced physics.
Another engine I was looking at was the Crytek engine. That one can render huge spaces with lots of detail. It's one drawback is that the color palette is somewhat limited (again, to save on resources so the game can run on regular PCs).
I actually tried and thought of doing this in the mid to late 90s with other game engines (Dark Forces, later Jedi Knight and Quake 2), but my mind was focused on other things.
If you have Counter Strike Source, then try finding a map called "de_Star". It's a "Star Wars" map that shows a slice of Bespin. I was very impressed with some of its details, and thought that something like that would be Traveller like. That layout of the map isn't that impressive, but the guy who did it put a lot of heart into it. The overall feel of the setting is very good. I wanted to do something like that for Traveller.
Correction; I gave the wrong map name earlier. The actual map is de_Star.
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Have you tried Red Orchestra? I think it uses the Unreal engine, and it has some features that would fit with my ideas of a Traveller fps.
I don't think Counter Strike style gaming will be so attractive. However my idea called for two sides with troops/mercenaries. Control points to capture on the map.
Each side got a force commander that may assign roles, use captured resources to buy equipment to enhance his units strength and capability. Call in artillery.
Include races which actually have some racial advantages. Smaller and limber Vargr may get into places that humans and aslans may find too confining or too narrow to get through.
I haven't played CS in quite a while, but I'll see if I can find that map.
I don't think Counter Strike style gaming will be so attractive. However my idea called for two sides with troops/mercenaries. Control points to capture on the map.
Each side got a force commander that may assign roles, use captured resources to buy equipment to enhance his units strength and capability. Call in artillery.
Include races which actually have some racial advantages. Smaller and limber Vargr may get into places that humans and aslans may find too confining or too narrow to get through.
I haven't played CS in quite a while, but I'll see if I can find that map.
I've seen and heard about Red Orchestra, but I've never played it. I played Unreal many years ago, and also UT back in 2002.
If you have a chance, give FarCry a try, or try Joint Operations. Those are the two I'd really like use for a Traveller mod, particularly since the Delta Force series achieves greater "realism" than the source engine. But there's far more support for Source. Quake 4 is another candidate too, but few people seem to mod it.
The Bespin map can be found here; http://www.cstrike-planet.com/maps/1075-de_star
I'd urge everyone here who has Counter Strike Source to DL it and have a look at it.
If you have a chance, give FarCry a try, or try Joint Operations. Those are the two I'd really like use for a Traveller mod, particularly since the Delta Force series achieves greater "realism" than the source engine. But there's far more support for Source. Quake 4 is another candidate too, but few people seem to mod it.
The Bespin map can be found here; http://www.cstrike-planet.com/maps/1075-de_star
I'd urge everyone here who has Counter Strike Source to DL it and have a look at it.
